DreamWeaver
by Windwalker
Summary: One man's nightmare is another's dream. Has Krueger met his match?Complete
1. Part one: Whose that knocking on my door...

DreamWeaver  
  
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EDITED  
  
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DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to the elm street series or Freddy but I do own Darren and Sancia, feel free to use Darren but not Sancia.  
  
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Part 1  
  
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Darren laying down on his bed stared blankly at the fan on the ceiling. His gaze lazily following the blades as they rotated, no emotion showing on his dower expression. Black shadows accumulated under his eyes where he had not slept for a long time. A trickle of blood snaked away from his lip were he had chewed it through, maroon in colour and crusting. The room he was in was black and dingy the only source of light coming from a street lamp casting ominous shapes on the walls. Only the fan and a distant ticking of a clock could be heard, Darren's breath so slight it was unnoticeable.  
  
A knock came from the front door, politely. Darren did not react.  
  
Two minutes passed then the knocking came again, this time a little more insistent. Darren stirred slightly but did not remove his gaze from the fan or react in any other way.  
  
Whoever was at the door was not perturbed by the lack of an answer, they knocked again louder. This time however they did not stop, the door rattled at each contact the door knocker made. Darren finally came out of his stupor, though reluctantly, unable to ignore the insistent visitor. He sat up in bed, his movements slow and difficult, as if he was an old man whose body no longer worked right. His eyes briefly flickered in emotion, annoyance, but then immediately returned to their glazed look.  
  
He slowly and robotic-ally made his way down the stairs wearing only a white T-shirt and black shorts. He blinked at the door seeing a figure standing there behind the misted glass, he could tell nothing about them except that they were quite tall. His drunken, ancient gait improved slightly as he reached the entrance but his facial expression did not.  
  
The person knocking on the door stopped, obviously being able to see in and at Darren's silhouette. Darren slowly raised a hand to remove the latch but paused briefly. A frown settled on his face, some inner workings deep in his brain sputtering into life. He dismissed whatever came into his conscious and unlatched and opened the door.  
  
Standing there dressed in a black leather jacket, black jeans and a black polo-neck jumper was a woman. She smiled a wide and innocent smile at him, almost too pleasant. She flicked a lock of red hair out of her face and showed an unusual purple blue colour of eye. Darren's face changed to mild surprise then wariness, he had not seen this woman before. She held out her hand.  
  
"Hello there! ", she said, her voice dark and exotic with a hint of an unfamiliar accent.  
  
" I suppose I had better introduce myself as you have obviously not met me before. "  
  
Darren's lax body tensed slightly.  
  
" I'm Sancia Salvadora, that's Spanish by the way, it is a pleasure to meet you "  
  
The chirpiness still ever present. Darren did not react to the raised hand so instead the woman grabbed his own and pumped it with excessive enthusiasm. The contact causing her to frown ever so slightly, barely noticeable but in Darren's trance like state he managed to catch it. Some inner voice perked up a little.  
  
" May I come in? I really need to speak to you. "  
  
Darren hesitated, he did not want to invite a stranger he had never met before into his house besides which, he noticed from the corner of his eyes that the wall clock said it was nearly midnight an extremely unusual time for an unknown person visiting you. He eyed her up and down, noting she was over six feet, a lot taller then his own five six and mentally worked out the odds. He shrugged and stepped aside.  
  
" Uh, sure."  
  
Sancia's smiled even wider, no hint of triumph in it and came in. They moved to the lounge where they each settled on a chair. Darren's inner voice started again, berating him for being so easy, but that part was still buried pretty deep in his mind almost an echo in confrontation with his indifferent state.  
  
" Darren Fabian Gardener is it not? "  
  
Darren started. The woman knew his full name. Thoughts crowded into his head, clearing the melancholy as he stared.  
  
" Yes that's me. I hate to be rude but what do you want? After all I have never met you before and you come here unannounced in the middle of the night."  
  
She gave him a sympathetic and mildly bashful expression.  
  
" Sorry, I was rather abrupt wasn't I ? I heard about your friends, such a shame they were all too young. "  
  
Darren digested this with more then a little sadness being reminded all over again of his three friends who had died rather nasty deaths. Kathy had died first, or more accurately killed herself, only to be found hanging from a rope hung over the rafters of her bedroom with a fixed face filled with terror at odds with the mode and choice of death. Brian, Darren's best friend, was found in a bloody pool in the park after going missing the night before. All his digits, his ears and eyes had been removed and spread all over the place, it was quite a mess. Finally Holly had perished after falling down the infamous local well, forty feet deep, in the empty rundown part of town, the impact was supposed to have killed her instantly. Only Brian's death was considered a murder and the police for the past week were trying to track them down. It had all happened in a matter of weeks and spread on all the local papers. Darren guessed that was where the woman had got her information after all it was almost common knowledge.  
  
She waited patiently as these memories filtered through him. Concentrating inwards he did not see her looking at him with a knowing frown.  
  
" I am sorry for bringing up these obvious bad memories but there is a reason I assure you. I don't like hurting people with their emotions but sometimes I must. "  
  
He looked at her through tear filled eyes, feeling a little resentment at her.  
  
" I know what you are going through "  
  
Darren jumped from his seat.  
  
"How could you understand? ", he all but shouted. She winced.  
  
" My friends are dead and you come here and pretend to understand how I feel. Well you don't. You couldn't. "  
  
Sancia played her poker face and waited out Darren's outburst when he finally slumped back into his seat. She waited a moment more.  
  
" I have lost people I love but not in this way, I cannot say how you feel. I know it is uniquely your own pain, everyone hurts in their own way. No I was not referring to your emotions but rather the cause, if you would just hear me out."  
  
Darren shuddered, other darker memories snaked there way in, but he dismissed his visitors words regardless, she could not know about that. He suddenly felt more tired then in his entire life and felt his eyes droop briefly but sprung awake as fear filled his entire being. Sancia looked on.  
  
" You know what I am referring to don't you? I see it in your eyes. The exhaustion and undercurrent fear. The terrible knowledge that something else lurks behind your friends death, an omnipresent reaper hiding round the corner of sleep, ready to pounce "  
  
Darren could only stare. She did know, or otherwise only guessed but still there was enough to feel she understood some of his fears.  
  
" After reading about all of this in the paper I knew it had something to do with it. The clues pointed in that direction. I also took the liberty of a little research just to confirm my suspicions and have found a connection with you and a distant relative, a second cousin I believe. You probably don't know much about the origins, but of course you don't, but to give you some idea your cousin was involved in an incident many years ago which resulted in some rather unpleasant business. "  
  
She settled into silence to give him time to think. Darren was shocked, his face had a waxy cast to it and the black beneath his eyes became more pronounced. He did not know how much she knew but the sincerity in her voice was all he needed and wanted. He felt as if he was coming apart and the knowledge that someone else could understand even a little of what he had been going through was a great relief.  
  
" Does the name Freddy Krueger mean anything to you? "  
  
SHE DID KNOW!  
  
" THAT'S HIM! ", he cried once more raising himself from his chair feeling more alert then he ever had in a while, things slotting in together.  
  
"Obviously you do. ", she chuckled then became serious.  
  
" You dreamed of him didn't you? An old and scarred looking man with a rather unique glove. Bad dress sense too from what I heard. "  
  
" Yes. He came to me in my sleep after Kathy died. I just thought he was a figment of my grief, just another dream figure but it seemed so real. He had these blades on his hand and grinned at me while sharpening them. He, he taunted me over Kathy, saying all sorts of horrible things about her and her last moments alive then he suggested that playtime had only just began. After that I woke up in a sweat. "  
  
Darren sighed.  
  
" I dreamed of him again after Brian and Brian was with him only it wasn't, it couldn't be, I have hoped it was not. The body parts that were cut off were still gone instead that creep had them on as some sort of sick jewelery and Brian was smiling and asking me to join him and Kathy to come play with Freddy, .......forever. It was horrible. After that one I began to believe the dreams were real. It was only after Holly that I truly believed and the bastard has been haunting me in my sleep since then. I'm......... afraid to go to sleep now. I know that monster got my friends in their sleep and I don't want to die. "  
  
Darren practically collapse in grief, shaking and on the verge of tears. Sancia sat next to him and put a comforting arm over his shoulder. For a while neither said anything, Sancia just allowed Darren to calm down and let out all his inner fears.  
  
" I came here to help you, " she said quietly into his ear. Darren glanced at her the tears beginning to dry on his face.  
  
" Pardon? "  
  
" I came to help you. I know I am too late for your friends but I can still help you. That's why I came to put an end to him. To Freddy Krueger. I have come across suffering caused by him too many times and it is time to stop. I need you to get to him. "  
  
He flinched.  
  
" He is only in dreams and he does not come to mine so I must find someone who does and I found you. It will mean you have to face him but I know a way to get into your dream and aid you. It is the only way I know how. I have a plan. "  
  
The clock ticked in solitary while Darren thought, then he nodded. Terror was coursing through every part of him but he needed to avenge all those who had died and he felt he could now trust this woman, he would do it, even to just stop the nightmares.  
  
" Yes. "  
  
Sancia smiled bitterly. She had to prepare to face the dreamer demon.  
  
" I have to get my self ready, " she said. Darren merely nodded grimly.  
  
Sancia rose from the floor, offering a hand to Darren then patted him on the back.  
  
" Let us begin and end Freddy's reign of terror ".  
  
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	2. Part two: Sweetless dreams

DreamWeaver  
  
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DISCLAIMER: The Elm street series and Freddy do not belong to me in any way. Darren and Sancia do. Darren is free for use but Sancia may end up in a another fic so cannot.  
  
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Part two  
  
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Darren sat nervously while Sancia had disappeared outside. He was nervous as hell, figuratively speaking of course. Facing up to the monster that had steadily gotten closer to finishing him was a big task. For days he had been afraid to go to sleep knowing he may well not wake up the next time. He knew he could no longer stay awake, his face etching those nights of somnambulist terror and weary self induced insomnia was testament to that. In the end, he realised, he had no choice but to accept the aid given to him by the stranger or face his eventual death.  
  
Sancia came in while Darren was considering the alternatives and waited patiently. She knew he was hesitant about the whole process and she hoped he would trust her for the task ahead, after all they had only met a few hours ago. Darren raised his head to look at her and his eyes held a terrible certainty about them and she could but only give him a weak grin in return, she could only prove herself in action, words were meaningless at the moment.  
  
" I have what I need, " Sancia said pleasantly, all the chipper cheerfulness she had shown on first meeting him hidden below the surface of her calm exterior. It would not do any good coming into this appearing as if she was going to a funfair, although for her this was considerably easier then for him.  
  
" What..... happens.. now?."  
  
"Just be a little patient, OK? I am fully skilled in this matter, there is no need to panic." Inwardly she winced, she sounded like an air stewardess. Darren merely nodded, nerves keeping him at bay. Sancia was glad, it made things a little easier then with him freaking out.  
  
Sancia hefted her bag from over her shoulder and placed it on the carpet in front of Darren. The bag was made of brown leather and appeared quite old and tatty, a rusty bronze zip stretched across the top. It was almost like a carpet bag. He watched it curiously. This was Sancia's bag of tricks where she kept her most valuable stuff and held what she needed for this moment.  
  
"What's in there?"  
  
" The essentials. I need something to gain entry into your dreams. Very powerful too."  
  
Sancia pulled back the zip and reached inside, her face a mask of absolute seriousness and she rustled through the contents. Darren looked on, his fear reverting to curiosity.  
  
" AHA!"  
  
Sancia allowed herself a grin as she put her hand on the item she was after. Within the bag she pulled out what appeared to be an amulet. It was large, barely fitting in her hand and rather more ordinary then expected. The design on its flat surface held a tree with wide branches and just beneath a single eye. A rope knot design encircled the outside of the amulet. It looked to be quite heavy and the metal on it was either bronze or gold and was unmarked with any scratches. The amulet hung from a thick linked chain made of similar metal but to Darren it looked newer. As it swung on the chain Darren noticed the other side and what appeared to be some form of ancient writing far beyond his ability to translate. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.  
  
" Oh that. The language I believe is a variation of Latin. No one has been able to discover what it means though, not even those proficient in Latin, they are the ones however who say it is alike. It does not matter what it says anyway, I know how to use it. "  
  
She paused for breath.  
  
" It is called in limited circles the Dreamweaver. It is what is going to help me get into your dreams. As to the picture, well,. the tree is guessed as Yggdrasil or the world-tree in Nordic myth, though this is supposedly much older then the tales. The eye has had many suggestions, from the eye of god, or the eye of the devil. Or from the Nordic myth again, the eye of Odin. My guess is it has to do with self, the dream eye, after all it is called the Dreamweaver. "  
  
Sancia stood from where she was kneeling and removed her jacket. Underneath Darren noticed she had on another amulet around her neck. He knew this one. It was called an ankh and was Egyptian in origin. A symbol was etched on it, which if Darren knew, he would have recognised the rune symbol for Daeg, meaning creating opportunities. Sancia noticed his interest in it but chose not to comment. Instead she raised the Dreamweaver over her head and settled it around her neck with the ankh.  
  
" All that is left to do is for you to get to sleep."  
  
Darren's fears rushed back into his body and he shuddered as they settled in his bones.  
  
" It is the only way "  
  
Sancia tried to placate him.  
  
Daren had no idea how he was going to get to sleep, the fear of facing Freddie would keep him awake for ever, or near enough. He mumbled under his breath about the impossibilities of the task. Sancia was still able to pick it up despite now sitting at the opposite end of the room.  
  
" Only if you don't try "  
  
How did she hear him? Darren thought. She had the ears of a hawk.  
  
Sancia simply came over, grabbed him by the elbow and practically dragged him towards the stairs. Darren realised the futility and pointlessness of delaying it any longer, so sighed deeply before walking of his own volition.  
  
Minutes later he now sat on his bed eyeing Sancia suspiciously having more doubts about her credentials. He could be going to sleep just for her to have the opportunity to steal or murder him. Of course the alternative was facing that monster alone and he finally gave up that ghost so as to face the real one.  
  
Darren lay back down and gave Sancia a questioning look.  
  
" It is rather simple. All I have to do is have some sort of physical contact with you when you go to sleep. "  
  
Darren leaned on one elbow.  
  
" Is that it?"  
  
Sancia chuckled.  
  
" Of course. As simple as that. Well that is the only part you need to know anyway. Don't worry about the rest, its just a load of mumble jumble, um, recited in my head. You know, just a few ritualistic words. "  
  
Darren just wanted this over and did not ask further, after all Sancia had pretty much said she would not elaborate. He rested his head against the pillow and began to concentrate on getting to sleep. Sancia looked on in silence then put a tentative hand on his own, Darren reflexed but did little else. It was all a matter of waiting now.  
  
The ticking of the clock was distracting Darren like crazy. Earlier that night it had seemed a god send to keeping away the sleep his body craved. Now it was an infernal nuisance. He considered getting up to stop it then re-thought that idea, it was a waste of energy. He turned his head slightly to get a better look at Sancia and blinked. She sat in the chair she had pulled up next to his bed and had her eyes closed, her breathing very slight. Darren had a sense of deja-vu. She did not react to his blatant staring. That always gave him the shivers if anyone did it to him.  
  
Darren shook his hand a little to gain her attention instead of speaking, for some reason he felt creepy speaking out in the stale room. Sancia did not give any indication she felt his movements. Darren tried again this time a little harder yet there was still nothing. Getting concerned now he sat up on the bed and removed his hand from her grasp. Sancia's eyes bolted open and looked directly into his. A millenia of time appeared to pass between them. Darren's heart was having a marathon all by itself, a long, long marathon.  
  
" Ah. Asleep I see "  
  
" Actually I haven't gotten........."  
  
" Nonsense. In Freddie's dreams you rarely if ever feel the transition from wakefulness and sleep. It's all to do with confusing and diverging the sleeper into a false sense of comfort. Besides which the dreaming stage and being awake kind of converge in this situation. "  
  
" You mean where here? "  
  
Sancia shook her head in mock exasperation. Did she not just say that?  
  
" Yes " It was not worth getting complicated.  
  
Seconds later.  
  
Too late, she thought.  
  
" I thought you were asleep instead. "  
  
" No you had to be under first before I could join you after all this is your dream not mine. I have to wait until your ready. "  
  
Each sat still for some time.  
  
" What now? " Darren broke the ice.  
  
" The next thing is to find the bastard. eh? "  
  
" Then what? "  
  
Darren was nervous again. The only thing that Sancia had brought with her when she entered his house was the amulet which was no longer around her neck with the ankh. He did not see any other items that were supposed to help them defeat Krueger.  
  
" I will deal with that of course."  
  
This did not help at all. Then another darker thought from his wiser side came up.  
  
" How do we find him? "  
  
Darren was preparing himself for the answer he was expecting. Sancia did not disappoint.  
  
" Bait "  
  
That one word sent tremors running through him. He knew she was going to say that but it did not feel elated at knowing the fact.  
  
" Don't panic so. I assure you, you are quite safe with me just don't run off and everything will be fine. There is a secret to dealing with dreams like this and I must say I am an expert on it. It is all a matter of taking control. "  
  
" How do you do that?"  
  
" With lots of practice and a keen imagination. Of course imagination could back fire on you . Krueger could bend it to his advantage. "  
  
" Are you sure you can defeat him?"  
  
" No doubts! "  
  
Darren took that with a dose of salt. His inner sensibility screaming we're doomed did not improve matters any. It was supposed to be his more mature and calm side. Which said very little about the rest of him. Sancia's voice boomed and Darren's own inner voices faded in comparison.  
  
" Enough talking time for action. Get up we're going Freddie hunting."  
  
Sancia rose seemingly from air and strode in wide sure steps towards the door. Fear of being on his own urged Darren to follow.  
  
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Yggdrasil/world-tree is really from nordic myth (it is not made up). The eye is also real and the connection with Odin is one of many but the one most closly linked with the world-tree. The rune is from fact too. 


	3. Part Three: Wolf in sheeps clothing

DreamWeaver  
  
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Part three  
  
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Darren marveled at the casualness of Sancia. She strode down the hall apparently without a care in the world. It was not as if they were about to face an enemy who was almost omnipotent. You would think with how Sancia was reacting that they were going for a picnic instead. Darren simply followed her reluctantly, she was either very, very sure of herself or she was nuts. He was not even certain that he had fallen a sleep, all he had was her surety and explanation.  
  
" Keep close"  
  
Darren had faded a little behind her but the words and the seriousness portrayed in them got him going. He walked as close to her as possible. Knocking into her elbow he mumbled an apology, Sancia politely nodded in silent reply.  
  
Something was wrong. Darren was sure his second floor landing was never as long as this, his house was hardly the Ritz. Did they just not turn a corner? As far as Darren was aware it was all straight. Now the tick tock of the hall clock downstairs sounded off. It seemed to be coming from all sides, pounding the walls in mimicry of a heartbeat or, to Darren's recently despised imagination, someone pounding their fists from the other side. All he could be certain of, was the doubts that he had about being in a dream state, were mercilessly squashed. Dreams, they always seemed to have the habit of never working right. He was in the middle of a classic walking and getting absolutely nowhere dream moment. He shook the sleeve of Sancia in front. She paused and tilted her head to look at him never quite turning around.  
  
" Problem? "  
  
" Where the hell are the stairs? "  
  
" Good question. I am currently looking for them. Distortion of dream reality can be a real pain sometimes. "  
  
She sighed theatrically and moved on. Darren became a part of her shadow too afraid to stray even a few feet from her.  
  
Moments later and Sancia came to an abrupt halt, he slammed into her back but she paid him no heed something had caught her attention. Nervous was an understatement as Darren slowly leaned around to look at what had startled her into stopping. Sancia was not entirely engrossed in the scene before her to notice Darren and she quickly moved to the side to continue blocking his view. Darren almost let out a Hey! at the obvious gesture but stopped himself for despite Sancia's effort he caught a glimpse of what lay ahead.  
  
Darren's face paled to a chalky paste. He could not believe what he had just seen. His adams apple bobbed up and down in extravagance while he tried to swallow the saliva that had built up in his throat, sending subconscious messages of imagined nausea into his brain. The conscious side of him was a blank slate, a Mere pinhole for conservative thought. Even his sensible side was quiet, not even a quip.  
  
Darren automatically grabbed onto Sancia's sleeve gripping it with panicky tightness. She gently held onto that hand to give him reassurance but it did not register, only that briefest glimpse of the sight ahead taking residence in his head.  
  
" It is not them. " Sancia's voice was oh so very light trying to keep a modicum of order.  
  
" But......... " Darren's throat tried to form some coherent words but it came out rather strangled.  
  
Instead he moved to get another look this time Sancia did not try to stop him.  
  
Rafters that had not previously been a part of Darren's landing grew from the ceiling like old ragged branches holding up the grisly sight. A rope of tafater hung over the boughs, heavily corded, swinging in a gentle pendulum motion from the weight attached. A noose hung tight around the neck of his friend Kathy. She stared sightlessly at the empty air, her eyes bulging from their sockets and glazed with opal cataracts. Her face had gone from a horrible bluish suffocation colour and through the entire spectrum of the rainbow until it was nothing but a blackened bloated mess, the neck also swollen so that it overlapped some of the rope that held her body.  
  
Darren with a full, clearer view immediately dropped to the floor the fake nausea becoming real as he let loose the contents of his bowels everywhere. It seemed he could not stop retching or thinking about what he saw, he had never seen her when he was told of her death but now he had an all too clear idea of what she might have looked like when her end had come. Sancia patted his back while he let go.  
  
Once Darren had calmed down enough he glanced fleetingly at the swinging carcass, his mind constricting with disbelief.  
  
" Your friend is dead. This is just an image to terrify you. At this moment nothing more nothing less. "  
  
Sancia's words battled with his senses, vying for dominance in his head but he knew deep down in his gut that his friend was dead and buried, it was not her. He shakily rose from his kneeling position and gave Sancia a sideways grateful look, she smiled a full relaxed smile that put him a little at ease, he trusted her more then he realised considering the short amount of time he had known her. Sancia practically gave off waves of confidence and comfort and he had lost all his doubts about her in that one moment, that one smile.  
  
" Easy does it. " She said holding companionably onto his shoulder as he rose whilst Darren's legs felt wobbly beneath him, rubbery.  
  
As his breathes came back to normal he dared to stare at the swinging corpse. The sight still revolted him, it still felt like he was seeing his real friend, but that had eased some what in Sancia's presence. His body still shook slightly and his mind was unconsciously asking for release, but he could not turn away. He had to control the fear.  
  
" It's not her "  
  
Saying it made him feel relief, giving words, substance. Sancia removed her grasp of his shoulder and took a step forward. Darren withheld his shout to stop her but the catch in his breath caught her attention. Sancia turned her head to offer more words of comfort and at the same time Kathy's bulging eyes swiveled to look at him.  
  
Darren was unable to withhold the scream that came full from his throat, Sancia whipped her head back to the sight at the first note.  
  
Rotting yellowy white eyes looked directly at Darren ignoring Sancia completely. Glazed, devoid of life yet there was a glint, ever so small that gave a wave of malicious, dark humour. A rictorous grin rose from the bloated, black mess of her lips, an evil parody of a clowns smile. Her swinging body increased in its arc as the carcass twisted and squirmed with unlife. Spasms racked her frame, creaking from the rafters, rotting flesh plopping to the floor.  
  
" Hello Dar "  
  
Kathy's voice rasped from her black pit of a mouth, the way she spoke Darren's nickname obscene in every way imaginable to him.  
  
Sancia was lost to Darren in front of this specter until she caught his attention when she began walking casually up to the corpse.  
  
" Sancia.... "  
  
Darren was horrified to find his voice not much different to the one that had been used to greet him, panic turning his vocals to sandpaper. Sancia paused to give him her big smile. Darren wanted to shake her, make her realise this was not a game.  
  
" Dar.... Don't you remember me? Where were you? Why did you not help me? Dar......? "  
  
Kathy whined out the last and Darren clamped his hands to his ears in denial, not wanting to hear, not wanting to believe.  
  
Kathy swung harder now on her pendulous rope. Her arms reaching from her sides to grab the rope that held her all the while the smile never leaving her face.  
  
Suddenly, one flailing hand whipped from behind her, if you could call it a hand. Darren recognised it. On each appendage was a sharp razor of some kind attached to a gloved hand . Freddie's hand. Darren knew there and then that this was Freddy in all his evil glory. He had to warn Sancia not to approach any farther but his throat had clammed up, refusing to cooperate.  
  
Kathy/Freddy dropped to the floor as the rope was severed, crumpling haphazardly. Sancia did not take another step to Darren's brief relief. Instead she stood head cocked to one side watching patiently as the body righted itself.  
  
The image of Kathy was gone, it was now all Krueger.  
  
" GET AWAY! "  
  
Darren cried when he saw Freddy turn his attention to his new friend, terrified for her. Sancia merely humphed but did not move from her position. Oh God what was Darren supposed to do? All he could do was stand by and watch the slaughter, his fear rooting him to the spot.  
  
Sancia straightened herself and held out her arms, positioning them in an unusual way while Freddy scraped along the wall with his right hand, gorging scratches that bled with bloody ooze.  
  
Darren blinked.  
  
From Sancia a light filled the empty space between her arms, a white light. Her face hiding any emotion except a calm certainty.  
  
It was beautiful!  
  
Darren was in awe, he felt something pleasant wash over him. From the light an object was forming. Then as suddenly, the light was gone, in it's place a silver long bow. Sancia stretched the wire where a silver arrow nestled. Freddie's constant grin faded but only just, his confidence still in evidence.  
  
" Ah a little toy. Care to play? We can have oh so much fun. "  
  
Krueger laughed harshly, his tongue sliding out like a snake, slathering across his chin in gross provocativeness. Sancia smiled in return but without the innuendo. Then she let rip the arrow making a speeding path towards Freddy, cutting the dark. The nightmare man's tongue lashed out to catch the projectile.  
  
His tongue only just tipped the arrow and his face changed instantly. The arrow's target was put out, just. Instead of the hitting place of his heart ,it pierced Krueger's shoulder instead, the incredibel amount of force sending him flying back. A look of surprised pain marred his features before he was carried a distance down the corridor, an impossibly long distance despite the size and specific item of the projectile.  
  
" HA! "  
  
Sancia's voice boomed down after Krueger. Then she let go a huge cheerful laugh, kicking back her head, the big smile she had, growing beyond all proportion, the smile and laughter of someone who has discovered the most hilarious thing ever. The bow meanwhile fading into nothing.  
  
The corridors shadow's swallowed up Krueger completely as he was led by the momentum while Sancia began to curb her joyful outburst. Darren merely stood stunned, wondering at the surprise on Freddie's face, at the fact that Krueger did not see it coming in quite the way he expected, at the possibilities.  
  
" Don't just stand there Darren, come on. You must never leave a wounded animal, they only become more fierce and wary and this one was far too dangerous to begin with. The hunt is still on. "  
  
Sancia spoke cheerily, her eyes bright at the prospect, her smile still firmly fixed. She grabbed his shoulder once more and began to drag him forward. Pulled along again? Darren thought but this time he was a little more hopeful then before, Sancia had hurt him, had hurt Krueger and now they were going to finish him.  
  
Darren began thinking as he was pulled along. How had she been able to make the bow and arrow? What was that light? And a final saddening thought, was Kathy at peace?  
  
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We have now met Freddy Krueger, it has been a while since I watched any of the films so he may not react as expected, sorry about that, I really need to research the films more. 


	4. Part Four: Tumbleweed

DreamWeaver  
  
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A/N: Almost complete. I'm halfway through the last chapter so expect this story to be finished within a week.  
  
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Part Four.  
  
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Darren was feeling more nervous then ever. Krueger was on the loose and probably smarting at the unexpected advantage Sancia had got. Sancia too was a great concern, an almost maniacal grin had gradually spread across her face while they searched, her eyes bright and eagerly darting around. Darren shuddered, he was stuck in a dream with a monstrous man and an increasingly insane looking companion. He dreaded to think what was going to happen next.  
  
Sancia walked at a greater pace then before, adrenalin rushing through her system from the earlier altercation. However she was not quite as high on that moment then what Darren thought. Her brain worked furiously to keep her enthusiasm in check yet at the same time she was trying to keep her wits about her. Trying to find a reasonable balance of both.  
  
A titter of insanity passed her lips and Darren felt his fear deepen. Sancia could feel the presence of the being known as Krueger and it lit within her a burning energy that could only be placated by the decimation of her foe. Darren only had seen glimmers of this persona before now, even the grin, disturbing by itself did not reveal the burgeoning obsession to its fullest. However as each step took them further into the dreamworld Sancia grew to the point of bursting through her tenuous control.  
  
Sancia halted with no warning and Darren found himself once more halting unexpectedly, bustling into the taut and tensed back of his guide. Lacking any forward momentum Darren could now feel a shifting of carpet beneath him, curving its back like a serpent tensing to strike. Darren though, refused to look down on what he now stood on, his still unsteady stomach could not take another potentially nauseating sight. The carpet felt suspiciously, damp.  
  
Darren's guide turned to face him, her features softening from her crazy grin even as she leaned back, so as to protect Darren's mind from any unnecessary extra worry.  
  
"Feel that? The twitching of your heart, the vibration in your soul? That dark fellow is close by. His scent is in the air. You cannot mistake the smell of evil. It's kind of tangy."  
  
"I guess now is as good a time as any to remind you of that saying, 'Once bitten twice shy'. He's out there and he's not going to be a very reasonable gentlemen. He is a rabid dog with a penchant for human flesh and misery. So stay close to me and be careful."  
  
Darren nodded his head in all the right places but within he was a belly full of nerves. Sancia gathered he had only heard half of what she said by the slightly glazed look but as long as he remembered to stay close he should be fine. She shrugged her shoulders and turned back, only to be confronted by the source of their conversation.  
  
Darren's face dropped in shock and fear at the evil personification looming over his guardian. One moment the hallway was clear and Sancia's voice dripping over his hearing and the next his nightmare man come realised stood between himself and his only hope of surviving this horror of horrors.  
  
Sancia however was not even allowed a brief moment to recognize what stood before her. Sancia could only look on in stunted shock as the dream man's hand came tumbling into her gut. Blood sprayed in copious amounts drenching the walls and the entirety of Darren's front. Krueger grinned with his scarred face as Sancia finally reacted to his presence.  
  
At first her face betrayed nothing before gradually fading into shocked surprise. She raised one hand to clutch her chest, blood oozing through her digits as she pressed down on the mortal wound. The bright cheer of joy that had spread on her face faded to ashy white. The very colour draining away to a basic paste. The now tainted hand raised beyond her previous ache and splayed out in front of her eyes. The glistening life that had been exuberant piqued and then bulged in recognition of her final life being split across the floor.  
  
Darren from behind, gasped in frantic realization too, watching his new friend fail to uphold her vow to keep him safe. The once happy almost fearless woman was falling into death's embrace before his very eyes. Krueger who stood benignly did not even warrant a thought as Darren saw his protector crumble to the ground, hers eyeballs rolling upside her head.  
  
As her body slumped upon the blood drenched ground, reality came crashing back to Darren. His own mortality brought to full mind.  
  
Krueger's grinning sharks face loomed into Darren periphery and he gasped out loud.  
  
"Little children come out to play. Freddy's here and deaths my way."  
  
His voice crackled with menace and dark delight so much more seductively evil then Sancia's own lighter babble. Darren still in the throws of shock tripped back on his feet almost falling hard on his backside. Terror so subtly gnawing at his control before now suddenly leapt out in a mighty roar. Overcome by adrenalin and all out fear Darren turned tail and fled from the sight of the scarred demon. Sancia's cooling corpse far from his concern as he ran for his life.  
  
Krueger sat back and watched with renewed vigour, the incident with the dangerous and unknown woman now no more then a glitch. A mistake he had rectified with unforgiving revenge. The chase was his once more and he watched in delight as his prey ran to wards a pointless escape. It was his realm the young man was in and in this Freddy reigned supreme.  
  
Darren's journey ran by him as a blur, his legs tiring but with still enough energy to throttle him on wards and away from his unwanted fate. Only when the terror faded slightly did he realise tears were falling from his eyes. Wet marks trailed down his cheeks in rivulets, a slowly ebbing river. With one hand he tried to wipe them away only succeeding in his haste to spread his cheeks more thoroughly with wetness. Mixing his misery with blood that still clung like limpets to his face and body. Sancia's blood.  
  
He only knew the woman briefly and she was nothing but an enigma, a, hesitantly on his part, friend. He knew next to nothing about her but he grieved her death anyway. A sadness beneath his heated fear. Darren silently prayed for her soul in the afterlife as he ran to wards his goal.  
  
A song rose up from the ticking walls and Darren slowed but did not stop whilst Krueger still walked the dream world. Children's voices arose in song, their singing at first indistinct, nothing more then a murmur. Slowly the words took form and Darren's already chilled and wallowing heart froze solid as their content struck deep into his mind.  
  
"One, Two Freddy's coming for you................."  
  
The name of the dream man made him shudder  
  
"Three, Four better lock your door................."  
  
Darren's thoughts drifted to wards Sancia. How he wished he never took her advice, never ventured into his own Hades.  
  
"Five, Six grab a crucifix......................"  
  
Subconsiouly Darren grasped the neck of his T-Shirt and was some what surprised to discover an object around his neck. He was certain he had only worn the clothes on his back.  
  
"Seven, Eight never stay up late..............  
  
Nine, Ten. Never sleep..........."  
  
"NO!"  
  
Darren knew within his heart what was to be the final part of the song. He desperately did not want to hear it. For he dreaded its utterance would lead to his fate. Eternal wakefulness was beyond a humans capability. It was death in all but name.  
  
Darren crashed down onto the floor, the sudden change of perspective and impact causing him to cry out. The fall jarring his legs hard. Rubbing his sore knees he looked behind to see what had caused him to fall, dreading if it was Krueger. Instead he saw a lone tricycle lying on its side, the wheel turning from his collision with it, a single spoke on its own revolution. A giggling arose from all around him, from the sound childish, like the voices that had been singing, finding humour in his abrupt and unexpected fall. Darren cringed in fear, goosebumps more prominent then ever.  
  
As he stood up he was once again aware of the item encircling his neck. A heavy weight from which he had no recall of placing there. His hand still shaky from his plummet to the ground, shook from pulsating energy as he reached into his T-shirt to grab the offending item.  
  
Darren darted his head momentarily about keeping his thoughts in the direction that danger was coming. 'Please let me live. Sancia I'm sorry, please let me live', he thought in desperation squeezing harder the object he pulled from his neck line. The mantra did nothing for him though, nothing at all. But what was now in the palm of his hand put the fear full back in its place. Glistening despite the dreary barely present light was the one thing he would never have guessed, the Ankh which had previously been around Sancia's own throat. The symbol of Daeg staring back in an unblinking eye to wards Darren.  
  
The world spun and Darren almost fell once more. An ache in his head began to pound and tears run anew. He wished desperately to awake from this nightmare, he wished for an end to his terror. Daeg watched in its unliving form at the man who had lost his friends and who was now losing his hope. Watched as Darren's last bit of bravery leaked from his soul. Watching. 


	5. Part Five: The Woodsman cometh

DreamWeaver  
  
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Part 5  
  
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Darren sat down. His sorrow and loss of hope a mighty weight. He could run in this world of dreams or lay down and await his fate, choosing the latter for he had nothing left within him. The Ankh was held tightly in his grasp. Its reasoning for being around his neck no longer a matter of concern for Darren in his bubble of helplessness. He looked up to the ceiling, his face an open wound and spoke with calm detachment belied by his current facade.  
  
"Sancia. I don't understand. You came and promised me a chance to no longer fear to sleep but all you've done is condemn me. You were of no help at all. You died. Bitch, you died."  
  
Darren's head collapsed into his hands and he wept pitiously, cursing in his mind the stranger who made a promise and let him down. Krueger was about and Darren couldn't care less now. He just bewailed his inevitable extinction. What was his life worth now anyway? All his friends were gone now, taken in death, their life throttled from them in fickle futility and madness. It was only a matter of time before he too sucumbed to this and he had no will left to defy fate that inextricabally tracked him down in the form of this demonic figure.  
  
{Crying gets you no where. Fate is as fickle as the wind. Don't be disheartened so. Stand up for yourself. Be a man.}  
  
The words carried softly into his ear. Gently touching his ear drum with feathered fingers. At first in his crying he did not realise the voice was there but it filtered in slowly, from a microscopic touch of breath to a gentle roar. Darren's head shot up, tears, tapering, the remainder descending down his face onto his chin and relinquishing their hold there too. Swept away into obscurity. He cocked his head in the manner of a dog and listened for the return of that sweet familiar voice. Surprise writ largely upon his face as the dawning of recognision came through.  
  
"Hello? Sancia? Is that You?"  
  
{The power of belief is what that nasty dead man relies on. It is a double edged sword. He has taken your belief away and now you sit here in misery. Get up Darren. Get up and get strong.........and don't call me bitch. Use your anger a bit more wisely please. Your fear would have drowned you, my friend. Krueger threw you in but it is up to yourself to get out again. Remember what belief is? Do you? Believe you can win and the chances of winning is no longer zero. It is a valuable lesson for you to learn, and perhaps learn it a little quickly, for the shortening of time when you're in danger is very short indeed. }  
  
Darren listened, heard and was in inundated with questions.  
  
"Sancia? How could you....? How can.......? Sancia? You died, I saw you die. I saw you bleed to death, how can I hear you? Where are you?"  
  
For a moment all was silence, even the ticking of the walls paused in eagerness for a reply.  
  
{Darren. I came as a guide, not an entire encyclopedia and step by step list of things to do. Get up and do what you have to. I never intended to do everything for you only to give you the will to do it, to dare face the dreamworld and confront Krueger. I was never there Darren, at least not in the physical sense. You were never awake either dear.}  
  
"How? How can that be?  
  
{Its the dreamworld Darren. The dreamworld. You were stuck in the limbo between wakefulness and sleep. I came to help you. The bad man is coming. Better put up those dukes and fight. Don't die now.......}  
  
"Sancia? Sancia where are you? SANCIA!"  
  
Her touch was gone, a fallow wind that had done its duty and now moved on. Once again Darren found himself alone.  
  
....but not entirely.  
  
Fading into reality the cause of the current terrible catastrophe of events came into view. He came with no pretense, no fanfare, only in his wholly dark image. An iconographic figure of horror and the monstrous ideology character for the human psyche.  
  
Krueger clicked his deadly utensils against each other instead of trickery to unnerve Darren. Darren reacted as expected, terrified, horror struck, and in the words of Richard Adam's, Tharn, like his terror ridden rabbits. Too afraid to run despite the oncoming danger. Eyes bulbous and bright with unshed tears.  
  
He did nothing but watch Krueger walk towards him. His true self buried beneath the ultimate fear. Silently he begged for aid, silently he wished Sancia was there in the flesh. Silently he begged for help, but not once did it occur to him under the influence of his baser, more primal emotions to consider Sancia's words more carefully.  
  
" Little pig, little pig, let me tear you limb from limb."  
  
The grotesque raised a smile which was about as inviting as Jaw s's own massive set. Darren rooted, flinched but stayed, his fear an over-layer of hidden courage. That which held him in place. Not the sedation of fate as earlier but something else entirely.  
  
Krueger neared with every step and within Darren that inner strength grew. Around them the walls ticked and tocked louder then ever. The beating heart.  
  
Tick.....  
  
Tock......  
  
Tick.......  
  
Tock....  
  
Face to face.  
  
Looking into the eyes of his next victim Krueger could no longer see the fright registered. It had passed from Darren's face as he had approached, now all that remained was the determined face of someone prepared to meet their maker, and do it with every ounce of courage they possessed.  
  
Krueger laughed and laughed mightily. Fear was a relished composite of all his victims but not a requirement. Afraid or brave they all still died.  
  
"Say goodnight, sweetheart."  
  
Krueger cackled, even as the hand came down, hitting it's target with certainty and accuracy. Darren gasped and finally reacted, falling to the floor in a puddle of arms and legs. Blood pooling in far more copious amounts then he would have believed.  
  
Freddie Krueger's facial features seared into his mind's canvas, even as a bright light began to mark his vision.  
  
"sancia....."  
  
He whispered in shock, for low and behold there she stood.  
  
Krueger turned to view her too. The jolly mutation of a smile erased from his cracked and burn scarred face to greet her.  
  
Darren felt a great heat emanating from his chest. Rising from the light, or some empathic link from the wound inflicted upon Krueger, he did not know.  
  
Or perhaps the new look Sancia, spread a warmth of gratitude and hope into his being.  
  
Sancia stood there, a matriarchal being of light and holy reverence, beholden to the sight of Krueger's rapidly enraging features. In his burgeoning anger the change of his foe did not register. Darren however in his revere noticed something was so very obviously different from Sancia's now stranger appearance.  
  
Krueger reacted hard and quickly to her presence. Holding onto the wound Sancia had inflicted on him he lashed out with his free hand only to discover a disturbing alteration of intention. The glove on his hand seared into his palm as the hand that held his wrist lit a stunning light around it's grasp. Sancia at the other end of it looked on with some pity, she new exactly where the outcome was going.  
  
Darren scrambled to his feet as the nightmare man began to screech in anger and pain. Standing, Darren had a better look at the picture before him as well.  
  
Sancia stood, taller and far brighter then he would have imagined. Her casual clothing which had been blood drenched the last he saw, was now replaced by a flowing gown of white. She shone with delicate light, a sun in the shadows. One hand held a bright ethereal knife, glowing the brightest of all her illumination, even though it was blood marked. The other still holding bound Krueger's weapon of choice.  
  
"Hello Darren"  
  
The smile gracing Sancia's features was the only thing familiar to Darren. The devil-may-care look and pure, joyful lack of worry was still evident. She was entirely in control of the situation, and with her eternal attitude, she never seemed in any doubt. Looking on, Darren believed it to.  
  
Krueger screamed, his voice cracking under the pure enormity of his cry. Darren grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut as it burned into his ear drums. Sancia smiled, and the light around her began to grow from the confines of her own body.  
  
The sound of pain began to retch free from the dream man's throat in increasing intensity, causing Darren to curl further away from it, snapping his hands to his ears in an attempt to stifle the glass smashing cries. Krueger writhed under the pressured grip of his nemesis in his throes of complete pain , while she herself stood like an unmovable rock.  
  
The light intensified, slithering up the walls and dimming the sound of its beat. Everything it touched lost the feel of shadow and darkness, becoming more in tune with reality. The light brought day to the hallway and the lengths which had been in eternal pitch black began to take form. Darren, ears still covered and still wincing, began to see the hallway as he remembered it. The nightmarish imitation giving way to familiarity.  
  
The screaming suddenly stopped.  
  
Darren squinted at Krueger and Sancia and saw to his confusion the despicable serial killer with his mouth still wide open but no sound coming forth. For all sense of purpose he should still be able to hear that wretched voice. There was no way Kruger could mime with the that look of dread and desperate rage upon him. The light was taking away his ability to speak too. It apparently was devouring everything of him, taking away his evil presence piece by piece.  
  
Then light consumed all and Darren had no choice but to cover his eyes. Even then the light shuttered past and sent blotches of colour past his vision. The ground beneath shuddered setting Darren rolling across the floor. As he was sea tossed on solid ground, the blinding illumination began to fade.  
  
For a time all was ceaseless of noise and movement. Darren felt his stomach lurch and felt too invalid to arise, beside which he could not see through a multitude of colours to know where he was treading. Footsteps made towards him in his disabled state, returning in him his fear. They halted before him. Even blind, he could tell that. Expecting his imminent death, Darren crouched lower only to have a very familiar touch on his shoulder. A hand lightly resting there with a temporary apparent lack of maliciousness. He knew though who it was.  
  
"Sancia....?"  
  
His voice was cracked and appealing, making him cringe at his own ineptitude.  
  
"Of course. Why shouldn't it be. I always keep a promise Darren. Always."  
  
The thought it could be a trick passed his mind, but the hope in him for it to not to be case over took that thought. Experimentally he opened his eyes, the world blurring back to reality. There before him was indeed the woman he knew to be Sancia.  
  
"Hello, my dear little chum."  
  
She smiled, and then Darren too was encased in her illumination.  
  
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A/N  
  
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My writing may have changed since. I began writing this in the early stages of my fiction writing and have written much more since. Hopefully any of you reading this story are still enjoying it.  
  
Next, the conclusion and epilogue of Dreamweaver. Should be up and running in two weeks.  
  
Stay tuned! 


	6. Epilogue: Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Dreamweaver  
  
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DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Elm street Franchise or the main protagonist Freddy Krueger. Darren is mine but open for anyone to interpret for themselves and Sancia also but she is still reserved for my own personal use. The dreamweaver is also from my imagination although possibly actually real so I am not retaining the rights to it. In other words use it if you wish. See my Author Notes at the bottom for a little more. Includes some further information about the story not included within the story.  
  
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Epilogue  
  
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Darren found himself in a lighted void. His body feeling far distant and detached from his mind. Not even the sense of any presence other then himself could he feel. Sancia had vanished in the mist of brightness. Krueger lost in what seemed like an age before, in another lifetime.  
  
Darren certainly did not fell as he had before. The fear, the terror wrought courage, the awe, they were not within his emotions. All he felt was peaceful confusing nothing. The light touching deep his soul and searing it with a gentleness that belied his former situation.  
  
Gradually fear seeped into his melancholy, touching the outer rim of his thoughts and slowly curling comfortably in his psyche. It was intangible though, he felt it but could not interact with it. He felt strangely detached from everything other then this place of nothingness and an enveloping cloak of white.  
  
The concept of speaking out, of a word easing from his mouth made that fear twitch but it barely alighted to the forefront of his emotions. The thought of speaking without the knowledge of his own body made it twitch more but still that ever present sense of dreaminess pervaded his senses.  
  
Suddenly a bout of devil may care attitude sprung to him and the subconsciousness of courage awoke.  
  
"Sancia.............?"  
  
He could not hear his voice but that words came anyway, it startled him. The light was like a cushion of cotton-wool, dulling and enclosing his speech but his mind was unencumbered. That word, one he was surprised would be his first here, resounded in some alternate reach of his mind. A telepathic call from nowhere and yet everywhere.  
  
Floating in nothingness he could do nothing but wait for a reply. Thinking further of this place only made that growing unease more pronounce. Every unexpected thought of what was to become of him brought him that little closer to panic. The curling kitten of fear was aging rapidly into a tiger, ravaging at its cage. As long as he didn't pursue his thought of his future it should remain a docile kitten.  
  
For an unknown time his mind wallowed in this nowhere land. A place of sense deprivation, where people could and would go mad from prolonged existence there. He dared to call again, and again it startled him and made him nervous. His bubble of armistice was gradually withering away.  
  
"Sancia...........?"  
  
Darren listened for a reply he believed would not come and was caught out when he was answered.  
  
"Darren....."  
  
Sancia's voice. It was the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. Sancia's voice had grown an extra indescribable beauty about it. The awe he thought he could not feel was replaced by something greater, a sensuous perfection of emotions.  
  
"Where are you? Where am I?"  
  
"We are where we are, Darren. A place reserved for the dreamer who is awake, the dead who live again. Limbo of the worlds and universes A place out of time and of the mind.  
  
All are here all the time and rarely anyone knows. Your very honoured Darren. Don't fret, or worry, my dear friend, it is only a temporary eternity."  
  
If Darren had a body to shudder he would have. The very idea of being here forever was a scary thought. However Sancia did not explain exactly where where is.  
  
"........where........."  
  
A giggle sounded from beyond. Light, airy and uncharacteristically not maniacal for Sancia.  
  
"It has no answer that you would find satisfactory.  
  
So how are things Darren?"  
  
He was at first upended in disappointment then felt a sudden urge of mysticism at Sancia's change of seriousness to upbeat joy. His mind tumbled end over end.  
  
"............fine.....?......what happened?......."  
  
It was all he could think to say.  
  
"The dream ended. The world continues to revolve and I'm glad your feeling fine. Worry is for the pessimist. Look up not down and everything's sound or at least I was told by someone once upon a time. I sense those questions not yet formed in your disembodied head.  
  
Don't fret Darren, I will explain what you need to know. For now just think of yourself floating about in an endless ocean, nothing bad exists and everything's a .O.K. No sharks, no fish, only you on a journey of inner discovery.  
  
Rather poetic don't you think?"  
  
".........please........"  
  
Anxeity rose within him. Sancia's endless supply of light banter was not ideal right now. Her brightness kept the dark away before but now he had had enough of light and bright.  
  
"Freddy's dead. Of that I am certain or as certain as certainty can be. He's gone beyond the land of dreaming. There would be no reason to be here if that wasn't the case. Or for me to have reason to stay."  
  
".....your not staying?............."  
  
Sancia scared Darren in some ways but in another he felt a link, one that if broken could shatter him.  
  
"No. I'm afraid not. I have been set a task and followed it to its almost conclusion. I can't stay Darren, even if I wanted to. I have a purpose, one you probably wouldn't understand, and I pass many a realm for it. It is time for me to pass this one. You can go on, Darren, you may not feel like it now and when you return you may feel a terrible, heart wrenching burning of memory but you will survive it. Facing Freddy and coming back whole will give you what you need."  
  
Darren listened with half a heart, memory wrenching back at the the loss of his friends. Tossed and turned had his emotions become and in that turmoil he wondered.  
  
" Who are you really? Your, your not who you said you were. Your not like anybody I've ever met, I don't know you. Who are you, truly?"  
  
Silence hung about in that void for moment, a scarlet clarity of nothing in nothingness.  
  
"I am Sancia Salvadora. Woman of Egypt, woman of Spain. Being of earth, being of light. A dream and a reality. Many things Darren, many things. I face the cruelty of death and know where my limits lie. Death has no bearing for me yet it is everything I am about. You wonder how I can be so insanely cheerful. Well here's the deal. Nothing can touch me. Not the reaper nor Krueger, they are facets of evil and evil holds no bounds over me. Even when Krueger plunged his weapon in me, I felt and did not feel, because I am already dead yet beyond death. "  
  
".......dead?...beyond death?....."  
  
"Yes. I lived once long ago, when superstition was the code of life. Where the likes of the Dreamweaver was not a trinket but the power of the inner being. I died in that time Darren and I have no reincarnation, only purpose of a divine nature. I was once but a woman and now I am a messenger and warrior of light."  
  
".....what about........dreamweaver?........"  
  
"A tool of power. It was merely your idea of an outer representation of dream manipulation. I needed something of actual contact to allow your mind to bend. I'm sorry Darren but for this entire time you've been asleep. I showed you what you needed to see."  
  
Darren felt a deep solemnity, his voiceless voice destitute.  
  
"....not real........"  
  
"No Darren, real. Very real, just not, well in the physical sense. Listen deary. I will explain better, just listen and float...............................  
  
Within everyone is a power, a power we can all tap. Krueger had his. A dark power where dreams are his world and everyone is merely a bystander and liable for execution. He found his fountain. The Dreamweaver, it is, a totem. A fountain within you. An image, like the statue of the Virgin Mary is an image. They allow for focus a center for faith and belief. Seeing is believing, as they say.  
  
The images are true, Yggdrasil is our world, all worlds interwoven and eternal. The eye, self as I said. Or all self. It is the eye of all and the eye of none. It sees but does not always let you.  
  
I showed you a place to hone your belief. I cannot trespass deep into your dreamworld like Freddy does I needed your hand to guide me, and for that I needed your co-operation. I give not take. Dreams are not my forte but merely a passage.  
  
Krueger has lived far too long within other people, his time has passed long ago. Every life he takes makes the heavens cry, every blood spilt is an abomination. All things must cease to begin anew. "  
  
"............who...............are............."  
  
"The winds change Darren, I change. Krueger's time had come and I have/had to cease that reign. I am the eternal, the internal, the wind, the righteous. Of Celestina and Seraphina, my task is death and life. All you need to do Darren is live. Forget not your friends whose lives I regret I could not save in time and remember within the mind all is limitless and the mind is everything. Movement keeps the world in revolve and this revolution is at an end.  
  
Your a good guy Darren. A little naive but good, I rather liked you but this crossing of paths is widening. I wish you well, my friend, keep it real."  
  
Sancia's voice faded with a laugh. A nightingale singing. It sailed away on a breeze of light and all about Darren it grew. If tears could form they would, Darren felt lost and confused. His mind far away. The light became unbearable as the ticking of that mighty heart blossomed. A ray of beauty personified.  
  
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Darren awoke with a gasp. Sweat pooled off his head in heavy rivulets. Patches of white screening past his vision, slowly dying out as he blinked them in utter perplexity. His emotions gradually came back to him and he looked around. About him was his bedroom, full of morning sunshine and shadow-less. He blinked again.  
  
Somewhere in the back of his mind was the voice of Sancia still, whispering sweet nothings that he could not make out. He involuntarily cried as he slowly caught up with his dream self. Only the twittering of unformed thoughts etched his mind, whirring like windmills.  
  
In unconscious effort he grabbed the item around his neck. The Daeg Ankh. Still bound to him. The idea of questioning it passed quickly, his dream, his sleep was all too vivid to be a lie. He had the proof in his hand and that was all he needed.  
  
In his mind Sancia's gentle voice arose higher and at last he could hear her final words to him.  
  
[A gift of memory. A ghost of passage. The Daeg is all about opportunity. To follow it brings new horizons, it is my symbol to you. Hold it close to your heart Darren. With it is the ability to open the world! Blast the past, the future is now and forever!]  
  
Darren tears falling afresh, smiled.  
  
!!THE END!!!  
  
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A/N: This is not quite the ending I had envisioned, nor is this the Sancia I started out with. She was just meant to be a really strong character who was there to help Darren realise his potential in defeating the bad guy, instead she grew a little bit further into an angelic being, whose duty it was simply to find a way to grab Krueger's soul and put him away for good.  
  
Darren was originally the focus and Sancia the assistant, instead I have Sancia the more heroic and Darren the tool for her to get through to Krueger. She's still mine though. A multiplicative purpose Angel who may just have other 'people' to deal with. So I'm still retaining my rights to her, just in case.  
  
The end for real now. Yay, my first truly completed fic. 


End file.
